How to Start a Mobile Business & Ideas You Can Use

Do you want to start a business – but you’re on a budget? You don’t have to worry about the expense of an office or storefront with a mobile business, and you get a nice change of scenery that a home-based business doesn’t usually offer.

After I started researching small business trends, I noticed that there was a growing need for mobile services. Individuals and businesses are both searching for services that offer the added convenience and time savings that mobile businesses provide.

Some mobile ventures are operated only part time. Others are home-based. In addition, many established companies choose to provide mobile services in addition to what they already offer – in order to increase their revenue stream.

There are lots of benefits to owning a mobile business, you just need to decide which one is right for you.

Mobile Catering Business

Start a Mobile Catering BusinessWith a catering business, you have a large resource of potential customers. The hard part may actually be narrowing down your “target market” to focus on a particular niche – will you be catering large corporate events? weddings? small private parties? family dinners?

Start by deciding what you like best – and when you like to work (weekends, evenings, holidays, Monday-Friday…). Make your business one that you’ll truly enjoy. Then you can focus on meeting the needs of your particular clientele.

Where to Start:

Learn how to start your own mobile catering service, including setting up your business, acquiring staff, food prep, creating menus, setting prices, finding customers and more. Helpful advice on solving potential catering business issues. Be well-prepared before you ever take on your first client.

Mobile Detailing Business

There are a variety of different types of auto detailing businesses that you can start, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money. You can start small, work part-time if you want, and you get the added benefit of a flexible work schedule.

There are three types of detailing opportunities: mobile, express and site-based. Mobile businesses are quicker and easier to launch, and also the most cost effective way to enter the business. You also have the option of working as an Express Detailer at a car wash or auto dealer. This can give you a consistent flow of customer traffic without having to spend a lot of effort advertising.

Car Detailing Professional Bob Keppel has a complete training system with 4 ebooks, 21 training videos and 2 website templates. See how to detail cars quickly with his professional step-by-step process.

If you already know car detailing – Bob shows you how to find customers – quickly, and without spending a lot of money. You can tell, he’s been frustrated with time-wasting tactics that have affected his own business. He shows you how to avoid that.

Where to Start:

This book is ideal for people who need to start a business on a budget. Not only are there lots of money saving strategies, but there are tips on how to work at maximum efficiency. Getting more done in less time means that you can take on more jobs and earn more income – or you can simply call it a day and work fewer hours…

Hot Dog Cart Business

Hot dog carts have been around a long time, and they are still popular. It’s a fairly low-cost business to start, and no special skills are required to start a hot dog selling business.

That said, many people want to start their own hot dog cart businesses. There is lots of competition, and new business owners want to avoid falling into the trap of being like all the other hot dog carts out there, or they will get lost in the sea of vendors and likely fail.

Yes, there is money to be made selling hot dogs, but unless you’re better than your competition, you’ll basically be splitting your profits with all of the other vendors in your area.

Perry, “The Hot Dog Guy” has years of experience with his own hot dog cart business and knows first-hand what it takes to dominate the hot dog market and actually get customers to pay you more money. He demonstrates exactly how, step-by-step, how to actually earn $576 a day.

Where to Start:

You can open a food truck selling virtually any type of food. Any time you drive your truck around or park it in a public place – you’re automatically getting free advertising. There are also lots of other low-cost strategies you can use to advertise your food truck, including social media. David Weber explains it in his new book.

Ice Cream Truck Business

Businesses that have a tradition of thriving in any economy are ones that offer a low-priced product or service that is seen as a “mini-indulgence”. Something like a cappucino, a manicure or ice cream/frozen yogurt fall into this category. Ice cream trucks have been around a long time and still offer the added convenience of “delivery” to customers.

As a mobile business, ice cream trucks offer business owners the benefit of low-overhead. An entrepreneur can start an ice cream truck business with one vehicle and grow his or her operation to several vehicles over time and literally double or triple business profits.

If you want to know where to buy an ice cream truck, which licenses you need and how to make more sales, check this out: How to Start an Ice Cream Truck Business

Mobile Coffee Business

Mobile Coffee BusinessI don’t know if there is anywhere that people won’t buy coffee. When I used to work in real estate, we would hire mobile coffee vendors to make cappuccinos and lattes for our open house guests. We paid them a flat fee up front, so the coffee was free to guests. Of course, coffee vendors can charge by the cup, but they can alternatively charge an hourly rate.

Sell coffee from a mobile kiosk, a truck or a cart – and you don’t have to wait for your customers to find you because you can go to them. Find coffee drinkers at shopping malls, farmer’s markets, city music events, busy street corners, etc..

Interested in a mobile coffee franchise? You can request a business information packet from a mobile coffee franchise company called Cafe2U.

“The Coffee Guy” is a company that provides equipment, supplies, mobile coffee trucks and business training for those interested in starting a mobile coffee business. It is not a franchise. You can visit “The Coffee Guy” website for more information.

Mobile Bookkeeping Business

Get all of your questions answered about starting a bookkeeping business from home. Find out how to set the right prices, work with clients, how to avoid common business mistakes and the best ways to find new clients. Also included is a CD with time-saving forms and spreadsheets that you can use to start your business.

Mobile Personal Trainer Business

Personal trainers don’t have to work in gyms. They can visit clients in their homes or even work outdoors in parks. Find out how to start your own personal training business quickly with the instructions in this book. Get sample forms, checklists and contracts, with insider advice from the field. Avoid common mistakes and start generating business faster.

Mobile Spa

If you are interested in opening your own beauty salon, but don’t have the money to invest in a storefront, furniture and monthly utility bills, why not go mobile? There are plenty of customers who would be interested in saving travel time and get the convenience of staying home with their kids.

With a mobile spa, you also don’t have to keep regular hours or hire additional employees. You can easily work part time if you want to – or exclusively on weekends or in the evenings if you have a day job. There are also some great deals on portable styling stations on eBay for nail supplies or cosmetics.

A mobile spa can offer several types of services, including hair, nail, massage and even spa services for kids and pets.

Mobile Tutoring Business

Work with students in their homes, and you don’t need an office to work out of. Get helpful insight on different teaching methods and learning approaches. Experts in the field share valuable examples that can benefit your business.

How to Make a Business Flyer that Gets Results

Making Flyers Without Spending a Lot of Money

With all the hype of online marketing and social media these days, it’s easy to overlook some of the simple tried-and-true offline marketing methods that have worked in the past and still work today.

Flyers can work really well at spreading the work about your event or attracting new customers – as long as they are done the right way. As far as advertising goes, printed promotions are not out – it’s just that bad flyers were never in. And those are unfortunately what we see the most.

10 Great flyers can be more effective than 1,000 bad ones, so if you’re going to spend the time and money on printing up leaflets or brochures – why not invest in one that bring you customers and make you money?

Nowadays, you can design your own using professional templates online. This means two things:

1. You don’t have to hire an expensive graphic designer.
2. You can make your own flyers without knowing how to do graphic design.

However, what is even more important than the professional look and layout of your marketing material is the information that you include on it. It needs to clearly explain what you are offering and motivate the recipient to take action. We’ve outlined some helpful tips below.

How to Design a Flyer

There are 5 key components to include:

1. Images/Photos
Pictures are worth 1,000 words, and photos can be even more compelling. Pictures of people create interest and help establish trust if the photo is of the person selling the product or service. Images don’t necessarily need to be of high quality or in color. However, the better impression you give, the more results you are likely to get. A logo will also professionalize your flyers

2. Catchy Headline
In a short phrase or sentence, explain what your offer is and how it will benefit the reader (how it will solve a specific problem that they have). This is important, and you should spend some time on this because if the headline doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, the piece of paper is likely to go straight into the trash can.

3. Provide Details
Give specific details on what you are offering – enough to answer questions your readers are likely to have and so that they have a better idea of how you will solve their problem. Generally a few sentences in bullet point format does the trick and is easy to read. If you are advertising an event, include the date and location, etc..

4. Give an Incentive
Just in case your readers are on the fence, give them more of an incentive to contact you – like a coupon, discount or special offer. Make it great so that it will be difficult to ignore. If you make it especially remarkable, people are even likely to tell their friends about it as well.

5. Contact Information
Finally, list your contact information. This will vary on your business and your offer. For example, if people need to visit your shop to take advantage of your coupon, they will need an address (and store hours). If they need to call you to schedule an appointment or get a free quote, they’ll need your phone number. In any case, you want to also have your website listed so that people can find out more about your business if they decide not to call or contact you right away.

Sample Flyers

Below are some examples of business flyers to give you some ideas. You can also use these templates and customize them with your own text.

Real Estate / Construction Green Home flyer
Real Estate / Construction Green Home flyer

Colorful Nail Polish Bottles, Nail Salon Personalized Flyer
Colorful Nail Polish Bottles, Nail Salon Personalized Flyer

Pet Sitting Business Full Color Flyer
Pet Sitting Business Full Color Flyer

Green Golf Course at Dawn Full Color Flyer
Green Golf Course at Dawn Full Color Flyer

Cutout Cupcake with Pink Cherry on Top Full Color Flyer
Cutout Cupcake with Pink Cherry on Top Full Color Flyer

Personal Trainer Business Flyer
Personal Trainer Business Flyer

Babysitting promotional tear sheet flyer
Babysitting promotional tear sheet flyer

How to Use Flyer Creator Software

If you’re short on time and want something easy like a magical “ad generator”, the closest thing I’ve found is through Next Day Flyers.

Basically, visitors can use their ready-made art and customize it – or upload their own designs. Next, you select the size, shape, color, material and number of pieces and then place your order to print.

It’s pretty much a one-stop shop, where visitors get most of the work done for them without paying the hefty price tag. In fact, their templates are free to use, customers are really only paying for printing.

They actually allow users to calculate their printing cost specific to the options they choose – before they even start creating their marketing pieces. This means you can find out the price before you spend any time designing your materials. If it’s more than you want to spend – you haven’t wasted any time, and you can go elsewhere.

How to Make Posters or Handouts for Events


Printed handouts can be a great way to promote your event – whether it is a business grand opening, a fundraiser, a school event or a party for a small group of friends.

Bright colors and big graphics can work well to get people’s attention. If applicable, note that the event is by invite only, for friends, members or customers. Adding a certain level of exclusivity makes people feel special and increases their interest in attending.

Microsoft Office has some free event and party flyer templates available for download at their site. Use their designs and customize with your own text.

They don’t have a big selection, but for the price of free, it’s pretty good.

Fashion Show Flyerwww.Zazzle.com is another great resource. There are a variety of designs for all sorts of events from fashion shows to rodeos to costume parties to beach barbecues.

You can customize the marketing pieces right on the website and place an order for them to be printed and mailed directly to you.

Costs vary by design, but generally, the bigger quantity you order, the lower the price per piece.

Fashion Show Flyer by CustomInvites

Landscaping Flyers
Landscapers and lawn care businesses are constantly leaving business cards in my mailbox or on my door. Some even roll up a piece of paper in a plastic bag with a few rocks in it and throw it on the driveway. Unfortunately, these ads never make it into the house. These companies have just wasted a lot of time and money.

What would really stand out out would be a unique and interesting marketing piece showing photos of their landscaping work and an explanation of the services they provide telling me why I should hire them. Include a coupon, discount or other incentive for recipients to pick up the phone and these landscapers would get a lot more business.

The good news is that landscapers can include all of this on a simple, inexpensive flyer. Direct mail marketing doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, as long as the right information is included on flyers or postcards, and they are delivered to the right market.

Lush Green Grass Vertical FlyersHere is a great example of a landscaping flyer that would get a homeowner’s attention.

There are also freelance graphic designers who will design your marketing materials for you at a decent price. You can get more information from Freelancer.com.

StockLayouts.com has several other examples of layout-ready Word and Publisher templates that you can use to design your own landscaping flyers. You can get some really good design ideas just by looking at their site.

Ken LaVoie owns a successful landscaping company, and he has some great marketing tips for finding customers (ie. how to effectively use the yellow pages, newspapers, a website, door hangers, site signs, truck lettering, t-shirts, etc..).

You may want to check out his website, www.LawnGuru.net, if you are looking for more ways to generate customers for your business. He also helps fellow landscapers set up websites by helping them get 1 year free website hosting and a free website builder just for buying his landscaping business book.

By the way, if you need yard signs, car magnets, window decals or other signage materials to advertise your company, check out Small Business Signs & How to Save Money

More Flyer Templates Your Can Use

Hair Stylist with Customer Vertical Flyers

Hair Stylist Flyer

Open Moving Van Vertical Flyers

Moving Company Flyer

Dirt Buster Vertical Flyers

Cleaning Company Flyer

Blooming Big Vertical Flyers

Florist Flyers

Pedi Pampering Vertical Flyers

Spa Flyer

How to Sell Used Books and Start and Online Bookstore Business

If you have a large collection of books that you don’t use, or you have a knack for finding high value or rare books, you might want to consider starting an online bookstore business. And actually, you don’t have to start your own store. You can sell through other sites like Amazon and eBay which are hot spots for people looking to find hard-to-find rare items.

Getting Started and Acquiring Books to Sell:

A nice benefit to selling used books online is that you can start on a small scale, operate your business from home and take on minimal risk. Items can be acquired through postal service auctions, garage sales, thrift stores, library book sales and more.

The key is to know which books are in high demand – like signed or first edition prints or complete sets of books – as these books can ask a higher price and sell quicker. Start-up guides like The Home-Based Bookstore can show you how to find items to sell, where to sell them and how to price them where they will sell and you will make a profit. It also covers things like taxes, postage and suppliers.

Setting Up Your Own Online Storefront:

Over recent years, creating an online store has become very simple and affordable. Many e-commerce platforms include page templates where you simply enter your product information, and the page is automatically designed and set up for you. You can find out more about how to do this here.

More Ideas of Places to Sell Used Books Online:

How to Make More Money in Less Time:

As you grow your online book-selling business, it’s important to incorporate automated tools like inventory and pricing software, so you aren’t working 24 hours a day. Some tools you can access online are ReaderWare and SellerMagic.